Heel-attaching machine



G. w. FREEMAN' 2,059,331 'HEEL ATTACHING MACHINE l Nov. 3; 1936. A

Filed Dec. 1s, 1934 -2 sheets-sheet 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 3, 1936. G. w. FREEMAN HEEL ATTACHING MACHINE Filed Dec. l5, 1934 @VEA/TU@ Patented Nov. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEEL-ATTACHING MACHINE Application December 13, 1934, Serial No. 757,343

17 Claims.

My invention relates to machines for attaching heels to shoes, it being particularly adapted to operate upon that type of shoe, commonly called a mule, which is without a counteror quarter-portion.

In the heeling of shoes, the operating position, lupon the Work-supporting jack of a machine arranged for inside-nailing, is commonly determined. by a gage member carried by the jack itself and contacting with the inside of the counter-portions of the shoes. I provide means by which work having no rear portion to the upper may be accurately located for the heeling operation and without interference with the delivery to the jack of the nails or other fastenings by which the attachment of the heels is to be effected. In attaining this end, I combine in a novel manner with a jack, or like Work-support, transferring means for fastenings, this being shown 20 herein as a nail-loader, and gaging or workpositioning means normally lying in the path of the transferring means and being movable in the operation of the machine out of said path, this movement preferably being effected by the transferring means itself. This permits the gaging means to be so located with relation to the jack that shoes without rear portions may be positioned effectively for the operation upon them, and then said gaging means automatically displaced so the fastening-delivery may be made without interference. Gages are preferably provided for both a sole and a heel, they being arranged to move together into and out of cooperation with the jack, and being so arranged that they may be xed individually in different positions to change the relation of the workpieces to the points of insertion of the fastenings and to each other. In such a double organization, there is believed to be patentable novelty,

`V regardless of the manner in which the gaging means is moved and the purpose of its movement. In the illustrated apparatus is included a jack supported upon the machine-frame, a carrier movable upon the frame, a gage for work supported upon the jack, said gage being mounted upon the carrier, and a spring acting upon the carrier and holding the gage yieldably in cooperation with the jack. The force of the spring may be utilized, not only to urge the gage means into co-operation With the jack but also out of co-operation therewith. 'I'his allows the gage to be displaced from active position, as under the influence of the reciprocatory nail-loader, and also to be held in an inactive position by the k:same spring.

A particular embodiment of the invention is` t' shown in the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 being a broken side elevation of the essential parts of my improved machine;

Fig. 2, a similar view, the gaging means being indicated in other positions than in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a broken front elevation; and

Fig. 4, a horizontal section taken above the jack and loader and with the work removed from the former.

The invention is discolsed herein in connection with such a heeling machine as that of Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,785,928, Benjamin, December 23, 1930. A fragment of the frame appears at Hl. Upon this are mounted a work-supporting jack l2 xed against movement and in which operates nail or other fastening-inserting mechanism M; a vertically movable pressure-abutment IB for holding the work in place upon the jack during the insertion of the nails by the mechanism lli; and a reciprocatory transferring or loading mechanism I8, which may receive nails from tubes 2l! and deliver them to nail-passages 22 in the jack l2. When the machine is employed for the heeling of shoes having the usual counteror quarterportions, they are located in the correct relation to the passages 22, and therefore to the points of insertion of the nails, by contact of such portion with a gage member 2d adjustable` in position forwardly and rearwardly upon the jack. The mule-type of shoe, however, has nothing which may make this contact with the jack-gage, and heretofore the proper location of such Work has been left to the uncertain judg-` ment of the operator. The heel to be attached may also lack means for locating it, as when there is no breast-cut in the sole, and the heel is -not to be attached fully back to the rear of the sole. By my invention I provide for the correct positioning of both a quarterless shoe and its heel for the nailing operation, and the positioning means, though rising above the jack-top, is kept clear of the path of the loader I 8.

At one side of tht frame lil a bracket 26 is secured, this having fixed near its lower eX- tremity a horizontal stud 28. Mounted to oscillate about the stud is a carrier 30, having extending inwardly toWard the rear of the jack I2 an arm 32. At the end of the arm is an extension 34 provided with a rib 36 entering a slot in the shank 38 of a fork 40, furnishing a gage for the rear of the insole I of a mule M, portions of the outsole and upper of which appear at S and U, respectively. As is best seen in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the fork at opposite sides of the rear of the insole will so engage it that this portion of the shoe is located laterally as well as longitudinally. A slot-and-screw connection 42 joins the shank of the fork to the arm-extension 34, permitting said fork to be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly, so the point or points of insertion of the nail or nails N used for the attachment of a heel H to the sole may be varied.

In work of the class now under consideration, the operator commonly locates the heel upon the insole by touch, guided by coincidence between the curved periphery of the heel and that of the heel-seat-portion of the insole. This is at best inexact, and fails under certain conditions, as when the periphery of the heel is to be situated inwardly from that of the insole. This may be the case when it is desired to show a line of ornamental stitching about the margin of said insole. By my invention the relation of the heel to the insole is made certain by a gagefork 44. The upper central portion of the solefork 4I) is shown (Fig. 3) as grooved longitudinally to receive a rib 46 in the under side of the shank 48 of the fork 44. A slot-and-screw connection 50 between the shanks of the two -forks allows the heel-gage to be so set with relation to the sole-gage along a substantially horizontal plane that the heel may be located either with its periphery and that of the sole in registration, or so that the desired amount of margin of the latter may be exposed.

The gages may be maintained either in active position, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, when such work as the heeling of mules is to be performed, or in inactive position, as represented by dash-lines in Fig. 2, in connection with regular work when the jack-gage 24 may be utilized. This I may accomplish by a single set of connections between the carrier and a relatively fixed point, as the bracket 26. In the bracket is a horizontal bore receiving the shank 52 of a block 54, which, by this mounting, is permitted to rock. Through a bore in the block is movable longitudinally a rod or link 56 pivoted at 58 to an arm B0 of the carrier 30. Surrounding the rod is a helical spring 62 bearing at its opposite extremities against an enlargement 64 of the rod and against the block 54. This forces the arm 6I) downwardly to an extent determined by contact with the block of locked nuts 66 threaded upon the upper extremity of the rod. When the gages` are in the active position, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the rod and spring lie at one side of a line joining the axes of the stud 28 and the block-shank 52, holding the gages yieldably in place. At this time, the angular relation of the gages to the top of the jack may be adjusted by the nuts 66 to bring said gages into the proper positions in a vertical plane. When the present gaging mechanism is not to be employed, the carrier 3U is` turned manually in an anticlockwise direction (Fig. 1) until the rod passes the previously indicated center-line. Now the parts will assume the positions indicated in dash-lines in Fig. 2, the gages being 'clear of the "jack and so held, close to the frame, by the spring B2.

In delivering nails to the jack I2, the loader I8 travels above the jack-top and in close proximity to it. Were the gage-forks 40 and 44 left in their active gaging positions, interference would be produced. I therefore cause their withdrawal from the path of the loader, this, as herein disclosed, being as 4an :incident to the operation of the machine. In a vertical wall of the loader-slide of the Benjamin apparatus, already referred to, is a longitudinal horizontal slot 'III which receives guiding means fixed to the frame ID. At the forward extremity of the upper wall 'I2 of this slot is an inwardly and downwardly inclined surface 14. Upon the gage-carrier 30 I mount a roll 16, which, when the gage mechanism is in active position, is horizontally alined with this surface 14. Consequently, as the loader advances toward the jack, said surface strikes the roll, moving it and the carrier downwardly and rearwardly to the position appearing in full lines in Fig. 2, before any part of the loader encounters elements of the gage mechanism which otherwise would lie in its path. The loader may thus function without interference from said mechanism. This temporarily inactive relation of the forks is maintained, as long as the loader` is forward, by the engagement of the roll 16 with the slot-surface 12. When the loader retreats to its nail-receiving position, the spring 62 returns the gage mechanism to normal.

In using, for mule o-r like counterless work, heel-attaching machines equipped with the gages of this invention, the loperator may, by the nuts B6, adjust the fork 40 to the correct vertical relation to the top of the jack I2, and by the slot-and-screw connection 42 so secure said fork horizontally that nails N driven by the mechanism I4 will be properly located in the soles I and S. By the slot-and-screw connection 50 the fork 44 may be positioned to determine the relation of the periphery of the heel H to that of the heel-seat-portion of the insole. Initially, the forks are held by the spring 62 as appears in Fig. 1, ready for the gaging action. With the shoe and heel ready for application to the jack, the operator causes the loader I8 to deliver the nails which it carries to the jack-passages 22. The loader-slide-surfaces I4 and l2, by successive engagement with the carrier-roll 16, cam down and then hold the gage-forks and their supporting elements below the path of the loader; see the full-line-position in Fig. 2. Upon the return of the loader to its initial position, the spring 62 raises the forks, and the operator may at once jack the shoe and place upon it the heel under the guidance of said forks. The abutment I6 is thereupon lowered to clamp the work and poweroperation of the machine produced to cause the mechanism I4 to insert the nails through the insole and outsole into the heel. The completed work may now be removed from the jack. If, because of regular work with uppers having counter-portions, the gage 24 rather than the forks is to be employed, the forks and their supporting elements are swung down entirely clear of the jack and lo-ader, as indicated in dash-lines in Fig. 2, where it is retained by the spring 62 which has crossed the center of the carrier-pivot.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a shoe-support, of transferring means movable to deliver fastenings to the support, work-'positioning means co-operating with the support, said positioning means normally lying in the path of the transferring means and being movable in the operation of the machine below said path, and a spring for elevating the positioning means into said path.

2. The combination with a shoe-support, Vof

transferring means movable to deliver fastenings to the support, work-positioning means co-operating with the support, said positioning means normally lying in the path of the transferring means and being movable in the operation of the machine out of said path, and a spring effective to urge the positioning means both toward and away from said path.

3. In a heel-attaching machine, a jack, a workgage pivoted to swing from a position in active coi-operation with the jack downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, and a nail-loader delivering to the jack and acting upon the gage to turn it about its pivot.

4. In a heel-attaching machine, a jack, a workgage pivoted to swing from a position in active oo-operation with the jack downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, means arranged to locate the gage in diierent active positions, and a nailloader delivering to the jack and acting upon the gage to turn it out of the position in which it is thus located.

5. In a heel-attaching machine, a jack, a workgage pivoted to swing from a position in active co-operation with the jack downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, means arranged to locate the gage in different active positions in a substantially vertical plane, and a nail-loader delivering to the jack and acting upon the gage to turn it out of the position in which it is thus located.

6. In a heel-attaching machine, a jack, a workgage pivoted to swing from a position in active co-operation with the jack downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, means arranged to locate the gage in different active positions in a substantially horizontal plane, and a nail-loaderdelivering to the jack and acting upon the gage to turn it out of the position in which it is thus located.

'7. In a heel-attaching machine, a jack, a workgage movable into and out of active co-operation with the jack, and a spring acting to force the gage in both directions.

8. In a heel-attaching machine, a jack, a workgage movable into and out of active col-operation with the jack, a spring effective to force the gage in both directions, and a nail-loader delivering to the jack and acting upon the gage to move it against the force of the spring.

9. In a heel-attaching machine, a jack, a gage arranged for contact with the sole of a jacked shoe, a gage arranged for contact with a heel upon the heel-seat of the jacked shoe, said gages being movable together into and out of position for contact with the sole and heel respectively, and means arranged to x the gages individually in different positions for their respective contact with the work.

10. In a heel-attaching machine for mule-work, a jack, and a sole-gage movable in the operation of the machine from a position just at the rear of the jack-top downwardly therefrom.

11. In a heel-attaching machine for mulework, a jack, and a sole-gage and a heel-gage movable together in the operation of the machine from a position just at the rear of the jack-top downwardly therefrom.

12. In a heel-attaching machine, a frame, a jack supported upon the frame, a carrier movable upon said frame, a gage for work supported upon the jack, said gage being mounted upon the carrier, a link pivoted to the carrier and guided upon the frame, and a spring surrounding the link and acting upon the carrier.

13. In a heel-attaching machine, a frame, a jack supported upon the frame, a carrier movable upon said frame, a gage for work supported upon the jack, said gage being mounted upon the carrier, a link pivoted to the carrier and guided upon the frame, a spring surrounding the link and acting upon the carrier, and means arranged to vary the extent of movement of the link under the influence of the spring.

14. In a heel-attaching machine, a frame, a jack supported upon the frame, a carrier movable upon said frame, a gage for work supported upon the jack, said gage being mounted upon the carrier, and a spring acting upon the carrier and holding the gage alternatively in active co-operation with the jack and out of co-operation therewith.

15. In a heel-attaching machine, a frame, a jack supported upon the frame, a carrier movable upon said frame, a gage for wo-rk supported upon the jack, said gage being mounted upon the carrier, a spring acting upon the carrier and holding the gage yieldably in co-operation with the jack, and a reciprocatory nail-loader having a surface extending in the direction of reciprocation and a surface inclined thereto, the inclined surface and associated surface successively engaging the carrier.

16. In a heel-attaching machine for mule-work, a frame, a jack supported thereon, a carrier movable upon the frame, a sole-fork mounted upon the carrier, means arranged to x the sole-fork upon the carrier in different positions toward and from the jack, a heel-fork mounted upon the sole-fork, and means arranged to x the heelfork in different positions upon the sole-fork toward and from the jack.

1'7. In a heel-attaching machine for mule-work, a frame, a jack supported thereon, a carrier pivoted upon the frame to move vertically, a gagefork mounted upon the carrier and co-operating with the jack, and means arranged to carry the normal position of the carrier vertically about its pivot.

GEORGE W. FREEMAN. 

